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Preparing Your Child for the Three R's
There is little doubt that reading, 'riting and ’rithmetic are crucial elements in the education of any child. A child's ability to later cope in the
adult world, to have a career, to take charge of his financial affairs and to live independently depends to a large extent on his mastery of
these skills.
Unfortunately many children are deprived of the privilege of an abundant adult life. The $14 million National Literacy Survey of 1993 found
that even though most adults in this survey had finished high school, 96% of them could not read, write and figure well enough to go to
college. Even more to the point, 25% "were plainly unable to read," period.
Surely this is unacceptable. Imagine doing a survey on the building industry and finding that the walls of 96% of all homes are severely
cracked, and that in 25% of the houses the walls are so weak that they collapse. Wouldn't we immediately start an investigation into the
building practices of the builders? Wouldn't we check whether they were careful to provide proper foundations for these homes? We all
know that before building a house, one needs to lay a foundation. Unless there is a strong and solid foundation, cracks will soon appear in
the walls, and if there are no foundations, the walls will collapse.
In the same way one needs to lay a proper foundation before it becomes possible for a child to benefit from a course in reading, writing
and arithmetic. If this foundation is shaky, learning "cracks" will soon appear. The right time to start laying this foundation is the day a
child is born.
Readiness for the three R's is a highly specialized task that few parents - also those who realize the importance of preschool education -
are prepared for. A tragic defect of our society is the fact that we are not allowed to take upon ourselves the responsibility of doing the
work of a policeman, or of a teacher, or of an attorney, or of any other work without having undergone prior training. No training, however, is
provided on how to raise children. We become parents without realizing that, for the sake of our children, we should make an in-depth
study of the issues that concern their intellectual development.
Climbing the Learning Ladder
It is important to note that learning is a stratified process, in which one skill has to be acquired FIRST, BEFORE it becomes possible to
acquire subsequent skills. It is like climbing a ladder, if you miss one of the rungs you will fall off.
Di dunia kini kita, tiap orang harus dapat membaca...Unless one has FIRST learned to speak Bahasa Indonesia, there is no way that
one would be able to read the above Indonesian sentence.
This shows that language is at the very bottom of the learning ladder. Its role in the acquisition of the three R's can be compared to the
role of running in the game of soccer or ice-skating in the game of ice hockey. One cannot play soccer if one cannot run, and one cannot
play ice hockey if one cannot skate. One cannot read a book in a language - and least of all write - unless one knows the particular
language.
If a child's knowledge of English is poor, then his reading will also be poor. Evidence that links reading problems and language problems
has been extensively presented in the literature. Research has, for example, shown that about 60% of dyslexics were late talkers. In order
to prevent later reading problems, parents must therefore ensure that a child is exposed to sufficient opportunities to learn language.
The Second Rung is Non-Verbal Skills
While verbal skills comprise the first rung of the learning ladder, non-verbal skills comprise the second. There is a whole conglomeration of
non-verbal skills that are foundational to learning. Skills of importance include concentration, visual discrimination, accurate observation
and memorizing, skills of association and auditory memory. These are functions that should be taught at preschool level to form the
foundation of good reading, writing and arithmetic.
One visual discriminatory skill that plays a very important role in reading is the ability to distinguish between left and right. Like all the
other non-verbal skills, this ability is not innate. It must be taught. In fact, knowledge of left and right must be drilled in to such an extent
that it becomes automatic.
The human body consists of two halves, a left side and a right side. The human brain also has two halves, which are connected by the
corpus callosum. A person will therefore interpret everything he encounters in terms of his own sidedness. A child, however, who has not
adequately internalized his own sidedness, will be prone to incorrect interpretations in terms of sidedness. One such a situation, where
sidedness plays a particularly important role, is when a person is expected to distinguish between a "b" and a "d." It is clear that the only
difference between the two letters is the position of the straight line - it is either left or right.
It is important to note that a person who is confused about left and right cannot use mnemonics or memory aids while reading, as is often
advised by experts. One recommendation is that children should remember that "left" is the side on which they wear their watch. Another
is that one should put nail polish on the little finger of the student's left hand in order to teach him that reading and writing start on the
left-hand side of the paper. These tricks never work to improve reading ability. This is just like going to China with a Chinese dictionary and
then hoping to be able to speak Chinese. One has to LEARN to speak Chinese. In the same way one has to LEARN to correctly interpret
sidedness.
Only when a child has climbed the first and second rung, will he be prepared for the third rung, i.e. the three R's. Remember that every
journey starts with a first step. Unless you help your child to make the first step, he will not successfully complete the learning journey.
Copyright © Susan du Plessis, the co-author of "The Right to Read: Beating Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities," and the author or co-author of four other books on learning and learning disabilities. She has been involved in helping children reach their full potential for 15
years. She holds BD and BA Hons (psychology). Visit her website. Reprinted with permission.
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